“AAM’s first quarter financial performance was highlighted by continued strength in our end markets, realization of our new business backlog and operational excellence on a global basis,” said AAM's Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, David C. Dauch. “We are off to a great start in achieving our 2018 financial targets, while continuing to focus on critical launch and acquisition integration activities during the year.”

AAM's sales in the first quarter of 2018 increased to $1.86 billion as compared to $1.05 billion in the first quarter of 2017.

AAM's net income in the first quarter of 2018 was $89.4 million, or $0.78 per share as compared to net income of $78.4 million, or $0.99 per share in the first quarter of 2017.

AAM defines Adjusted earnings per share to be diluted earnings per share excluding the impact of restructuring and acquisition-related costs, debt refinancing and redemption costs and non-recurring items, including the tax effect thereon. Adjusted earnings per share in the first quarter of 2018 were $0.98 compared to $1.03 in the first quarter of 2017.

AAM defines EBITDA to be earnings before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA excluding the impact of restructuring and acquisition-related costs and debt refinancing and redemption costs. In the first quarter of 2018, Adjusted EBITDA was $317.0 million, or 17.1% of sales, as compared to $183.6 million, or 17.5% of sales, in the first quarter of 2017.

AAM's net cash provided by operating activities for the first quarter of 2018 was $66.9 million as compared to $62.3 million in the first quarter of 2017.

AAM defines free cash flow to be net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures net of proceeds from the sale of property, plant and equipment. Adjusted free cash flow is defined as free cash flow excluding the impact of cash payments for restructuring and acquisition-related costs and settlements of pre-existing accounts payable balances with acquired entities. AAM's Adjusted free cash flow for the first quarter of 2018 was a seasonal use of $41.7 million.

AAM Sells Aftermarket Business of Powertrain Business Unit

In April 2018, AAM sold the aftermarket business of our Powertrain business unit to Hidden Harbor Capital Partners. Cash proceeds from the sale of these non-core assets were approximately $50 million. The impact of this sale will be recorded in the Company's second quarter 2018 financial results.

AAM to Redeem $100 million of its 6.625% Notes

AAM has issued a notice of redemption for $100 million of its outstanding 6.625% senior unsecured notes due 2022 (6.625% Notes), plus accrued and unpaid interest to the redemption date of May 30, 2018. AAM will use cash on hand, including proceeds from the aftermarket business sale, to settle the redemption of the 6.625% Notes.

AAM's Full Year 2018 Outlook

AAM is confirming its full year 2018 financial outlook:

AAM is targeting sales of approximately $7 billion in 2018.This sales projection is based on the anticipated launch schedule of programs in AAM’s new and incremental business backlog and the assumption that the U.S. Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of sales (“SAAR”) will be in the range of 16.8 million to 17 million light vehicle units in 2018.

AAM is targeting an Adjusted EBITDA margin in the range of 17.5% to 18.0% of sales in 2018.

AAM is targeting Adjusted free cash flow of approximately 5% of sales in 2018.

First Quarter 2018 Conference Call Information

A conference call to review AAM's first quarter 2018 results is scheduled today at 10:00 a.m. ET. Interested participants may listen to the live conference call by logging onto AAM's investor web site at http://investor.aam.com or calling (855) 681-2072 from the United States or (973) 200-3383 from outside the United States. A replay will be available from 1:00 p.m. ET on May 4, 2018 until 11:59 p.m. ET May 11, 2018 by dialing (855) 859-2056 from the United States or (404) 537-3406 from outside the United States. When prompted, callers should enter conference reservation number 3190139.

Non-GAAP Financial Information

In addition to the results reported in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) included within this press release, AAM has provided certain information, which includes non-GAAP financial measures such as Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted earnings per share and Adjusted free cash flow. Such information is reconciled to its closest GAAP measure in accordance with Securities and Exchange Commission rules and is included in the attached supplemental data.

Certain of the forward-looking financial measures included in this earnings release are provided on a non-GAAP basis. A reconciliation of non-GAAP forward-looking financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP is not practical given the difficulty of projecting event driven transactional and other non-core operating items and their related effects in any future period. The magnitude of these items, however, may be significant.

Management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to management, investors, and banking institutions in their analysis of the Company's business and operating performance. Management also uses this information for operational planning and decision-making purposes.

Non-GAAP financial measures are not and should not be considered a substitute for any GAAP measure. Additionally, non-GAAP financial measures as presented by AAM may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

Company Description

AAM is a premier, global leader in design, engineering, validation and manufacturing of driveline, metal forming, powertrain, and casting products for automotive, commercial and industrial markets.

Headquartered in Detroit, AAM has over 25,000 associates operating at more than 90 facilities in 17 countries to support our customers on global and regional platforms with a focus on quality, operational excellence and technology leadership. To learn more, visit www.aam.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

In this earnings release, we make statements concerning our expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, strategies, and future events or performance. Such statements are “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and relate to trends and events that may affect our future financial position and operating results. The terms such as “will,” “may,” “could,” “would,” “plan,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “project,” "target," and similar words or expressions, as well as statements in future tense, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time those statements are made and/or management’s good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events and are subject to risks and may differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to: reduced purchases of our products by General Motors Company (GM), FCA US LLC (FCA), or other customers; reduced demand for our customers' products (particularly light trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and crossover vehicles produced by GM and FCA); our ability to respond to changes in technology, increased competition or pricing pressures; our ability to develop and produce new products that reflect market demand; lower-than-anticipated market acceptance of new or existing products; our ability to attract new customers and programs for new products; risks inherent in our global operations (including adverse changes in trade agreements, such as NAFTA, tariffs, immigration policies, political stability, taxes and other law changes, potential disruptions of production and supply, and currency rate fluctuations); a significant disruption in operations at one or more of our key manufacturing facilities; global economic conditions; our ability to successfully integrate the business and information systems of Metaldyne Performance Group, Inc. (MPG) and to realize the anticipated benefits of the merger; risks related to disruptions to ongoing business operations as a result of the merger with MPG, including disruptions to management time; risks related to a failure of our information technology systems and networks, and risks associated with current and emerging technology threats and damage from computer viruses, unauthorized access, cyber attack and other similar disruptions; negative or unexpected tax consequences; liabilities arising from warranty claims, product recall or field actions, product liability and legal proceedings to which we are or may become a party, or the impact of product recall or field actions on our customers; our ability to achieve the level of cost reductions required to sustain global cost competitiveness; supply shortages or price increases in raw materials, utilities or other operating supplies for us or our customers as a result of natural disasters or otherwise; our ability or our customers' and suppliers' ability to successfully launch new product programs on a timely basis; our ability to realize the expected revenues from our new and incremental business backlog; our ability to maintain satisfactory labor relations and avoid work stoppages; our suppliers', our customers' and their suppliers' ability to maintain satisfactory labor relations and avoid work stoppages; price volatility in, or reduced availability of, fuel; potential liabilities or litigation relating to, or assumed in, the MPG merger; potential adverse reactions or changes to business relationships resulting from the completion of the merger with MPG; our ability to protect our intellectual property and successfully defend against assertions made against us; our ability to attract and retain key associates; availability of financing for working capital, capital expenditures, research and development (R&D) or other general corporate purposes including acquisitions, as well as our ability to comply with financial covenants; our customers' and suppliers' availability of financing for working capital, capital expenditures, R&D or other general corporate purposes; changes in liabilities arising from pension and other postretirement benefit obligations; risks of noncompliance with environmental laws and regulations or risks of environmental issues that could result in unforeseen costs at our facilities or reputational damage; adverse changes in laws, government regulations or market conditions affecting our products or our customers' products; our ability or our customers' and suppliers' ability to comply with regulatory requirements and the potential costs of such compliance; and other unanticipated events and conditions that may hinder our ability to compete. It is not possible to foresee or identify all such factors and we make no commitment to update any forward-looking statement or to disclose any facts, events or circumstances after the date hereof that may affect the accuracy of any forward-looking statement.

One Dauch Drive

Detroit, MI 48211-1198

AAM Terms of Use & Privacy Policy

ATTENTION: PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS WEBSITE. USING THIS WEBSITE INDICATES THAT YOU ACCEPT THESE TERMS. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THESE TERMS ("TERMS"), DO NOT USE THIS SITE.

Use of AAM Website

American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. and/or its respective affiliates ("AAM") authorizes you to view and download the materials on this website for personal use only, provided that you retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained in the original materials on any copies of the materials. You may not modify, reproduce or publicly display, perform, or distribute or otherwise use for any public or commercial purpose, any of the materials or data presented in this website without the express written permission of AAM or the copyright owner. For purposes of these Terms, any use of these materials on any other Internet site or networked computer environment for any purpose is prohibited. The materials on this website are copyrighted and AAM reserves the rights to all material on this site with regard to any copyright, trademark, or other laws.

Right to Change Terms

AAM reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of these Terms at any time. All such changes to these Terms will appear on this page. By using the website following any modifications to these Terms, you agree to be bound by any such modifications. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any new features to the current website shall be subject to these Terms.

User Submission

Other than personally identifiable information, any material, information or other communication you transmit or post to this website will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary ("Communications"). Your act of transmission or posting will signify your recognition that AAM will have no obligations with respect to the Communications. AAM and its designees may copy, disclose, distribute, incorporate and otherwise use the Communications and all data, images, sounds, text, and other things embodied therein for any and all commercial or non-commercial purposes.

Disclaimer

THE MATERIALS AND SERVICES PROVIDED AT THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. AAM does not warrant the accuracy and completeness of the materials or services at this website. AAM may make changes to the materials and services at this website, or to the products and prices described in them, at any time without notice. The materials and services at this website may be out of date, and AAM makes no commitment to update the materials and services at this website. Information published at this website may refer to products, programs or services that are not available in your country. Such references do not suggest that AAM intends to announce such products, programs or services in your country. Applicable law may not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusion may not apply to you.

Limitation of Liability

AAM and its suppliers will not be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of the use of this website, information, data or services contained on this website or any link to this site, including, without limitation, those resulting from lost profits, lost data or business interruption, whether such damages are based on warranty, contract, tort or any other legal theory and whether or not advised of the possibility of such damages. All use is at your own risk, and you assume all costs of such risk.

Links to Other Websites

Links to other, non-AAM Internet sites are provided solely for convenience. If you use these links, you will leave this website. AAM has not reviewed all of these third party sites and does not control and is not responsible for any of these sites or their content. AAM does not endorse or make any representations about them, or any information, software or other products or materials found there, or any results that may be obtained from using them. Use of third party sites is entirely at your own risk.

Applicable Laws

This website is administered by AAM, Detroit, Michigan, United States of America. AAM makes no representation that materials or services at this website are appropriate or available for use outside the United States. You may not use or export or re-export such materials or services, or any copy or adaptation thereof, in violation of any applicable laws or regulations including without limitation U.S. export laws and regulations. If you access this website from outside the United States, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws. These Terms will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of laws.

Unlawful or Prohibited Use

As a condition of your use of the website, you will not use it for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms. You may not use the services in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair any AAM server, or the network(s) connected to any AAM server, or interfere with any other party's use and enjoyment of the website. You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to services, materials, other accounts, computer systems or networks connected to any AAM server or to the website, through hacking, password mining or any other means. You may not obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available through the website.

Unsolicited Ideas

Neither AAM nor its employees accept or consider unsolicited ideas, including ideas for new advertising campaigns, new promotions, new or improved products or technologies, product enhancements, processes, materials, marketing plans or new product names. Please do not send any original creative artwork, suggestions or other works. The sole purpose of this policy is to avoid potential misunderstandings or disputes when AAM's product or marketing strategies might seem similar to ideas submitted to AAM. If, despite our request that you not send us your ideas, you still send them, then regardless of what your letter says, the following terms shall apply to your idea submission. You agree that: (1) your ideas will automatically become the property of AAM, without compensation to you, and (2) AAM can use the ideas for any purpose and in any way, even give them to others.

All trademarks displayed on this site are owned exclusively by AAM, or are used by AAM under license. These trademarks include marks that are registered and unregistered and include, but are not limited to, product brand names, slogans, and logos and emblems. The unauthorized use of any trademark owned or used by AAM is strictly prohibited.

Accounts and Security

If any of the services on the website requires you to open an account, you must complete the registration process by providing us with true, current, complete and accurate information as prompted by the applicable registration form, and you will maintain and promptly update such information to keep it true, current, complete and accurate. You also will choose a password and a user name. You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and account. You are responsible for any and all activities that occur under your account. You agree to notify AAM immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security. AAM will not be liable for any loss that you may incur as a result of someone else using your password or account, either with or without your knowledge. However, you may be liable for losses incurred by AAM or another party due to someone else using your account or password. You acknowledge and agree that certain services may provide password-restricted access to customer information. By using this website and registering for such services, you consent to AAM's display of such information via the services and accept all risks of unauthorized access to such information. If you provide any information that is false, inaccurate, out of date, or incomplete, or AAM has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is false, inaccurate, out of date, or incomplete, AAM may suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the services or any portion thereof. You are responsible for all costs and charges, including without limitation, phone and telecommunications equipment charges that you incur in order to use the services.

Privacy Statement

AAM respects your privacy. At all times we will strive to keep your personal information confidential. We will only collect, store, and use any personal information you provide to us for defined purposes and will share it only with companies who share our commitment to protecting your privacy and data. For purposes of this Privacy Policy, AAM is the data controller, which means that we determine the purposes for which and the manner in which any personal information is to be processed. Please take a moment to read this privacy statement to learn how we handle your personal information. This privacy statement is subject to change at any time.

Normal Website Usage

When you visit AAM's website you do so anonymously. During normal website usage, we do not collect or store personally identifiable information such as name, mailing address, email address, phone number or social security number. We reserve our right to collect and/or store information during normal website usage, which may include the name of your Internet Service Provider (ISP), the date and time you entered our website, the amount of time you spend there, the pages you request, the referring website, and other such related information. Accordingly, we may gather this information to generate statistics and measure site activity for the purpose of continuously improving the website.

Why and When We Collect Personal Information

Sometimes it is necessary to collect specific information in order to fulfill a visitor's request for a service or correspondence. You voluntarily provide this information, such as name, mailing address, email address, type of request or other information, which is collected and stored by AAM to fulfill your request. Your personal information is not given to any other company for that company's independent use. AAM may employ third-party companies to perform services or functions on our behalf—data processors. These companies may require access to personal information in order to perform their functions, but may not use it for other purposes. Visitors to this website provide personally identifying information only when using one or more of the following services: (1) contact forms; (2) resume submission; (3) requests for additional information; (4) surveys and business reply forms; (5) subscription emails.

What We Do With Information You Provide Us

When contacting us about a product or service, visitors to our website may decide to send us information that identifies them personally. That information may be used to identify the user as a customer and AAM will respond accordingly. AAM will not sell, rent, or lease your personal information to others. Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information if required to do so in compliance with applicable law or, a court order or legal process served on our website. Periodically, we may send electronic newsletters and other communications that contain industry, marketing, product, or event information. Only AAM (or its authorized agents, representatives or employees) will send you these direct mailings. You can opt-out of receiving further marketing information from AAM by following the instructions within the mailing. AAM will retain the data collected (either personal or usage) only as long as it is useful or necessary for the purposes set forth in this Privacy Policy or if it is legally required, needed to resolve disputes, or to enforce our legal agreements and policies. AAM administers and operates www.AAM.com from the United States. Other AAM sites may be administered and operated from various locations outside the United States.

Transfer Of Data

Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from your jurisdiction.

If you are located outside United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to United States and process it there.

Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.

AAM will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.

Disclosure of Data

Disclosure for Law Enforcement

Under certain circumstances, AAM may be required to disclose your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or a government agency).

Legal Requirements

AAM may disclose your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

• To comply with a legal obligation

• To protect and defend the rights or property of AAM

• To prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the website

• To protect the personal safety of users of the website or the public

• To protect against legal liability

Security of Data

The security of your data is important to us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain data protection rights. AAM aims to take reasonable steps to allow you to correct, amend, delete, or limit the use of your Personal Data.

If you wish to be informed what Personal Data we hold about you and if you want it to be removed from our systems, please contact us.

In certain circumstances, you have the following data protection rights:

The right to access, update or to delete the information we have on you. Whenever made possible, you can access, update or request deletion of your Personal Data directly within your account settings section. If you are unable to perform these actions yourself, please contact us to assist you.

The right of rectification. You have the right to have your information rectified if that information is inaccurate or incomplete.

The right to object. You have the right to object to our processing of your Personal Data.

The right of restriction. You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information.

The right to data portability. You have the right to be provided with a copy of the information we have on you in a structured, machine-readable and commonly used format.

The right to withdraw consent. You also have the right to withdraw your consent at any time where AAM relied on your consent to process your personal information.

Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before responding to such requests.

You have the right to complain to a Data Protection Authority about our collection and use of your Personal Data. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority in the European Economic Area (EEA). However, we are also happy to address any concerns you have directly.

Analytics

We may use third-party Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our website.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of our website. This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network.

You can opt-out of having made your activity on the website available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The add-on prevents the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, and dc.js) from sharing information with Google Analytics about visits activity.

For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy Terms web page: http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/

Behavioral Remarketing

AAM uses remarketing services to advertise on third party websites to you after you visited our website. We and our third-party vendors use cookies to inform, optimize and serve ads based on your past visits to our website.

Facebook

Facebook remarketing service is provided by Facebook Inc.

You can learn more about interest-based advertising from Facebook by visiting this page: https://www.facebook.com/help/164968693837950

To opt-out from Facebook's interest-based ads follow these instructions from Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/help/568137493302217

Facebook adheres to the Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising established by the Digital Advertising Alliance. You can also opt-out from Facebook and other participating companies through the Digital Advertising Alliance in the USA http://www.aboutads.info/choices/, the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada in Canada http://youradchoices.ca/ or the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance in Europe http://www.youronlinechoices.eu/, or opt-out using your mobile device settings.

For more information on the privacy practices of Facebook, please visit Facebook's Data Policy: https://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation

AdRoll

AdRoll remarketing service is provided by Semantic Sugar, Inc.

You can opt-out of AdRoll remarketing by visiting this AdRoll Advertising Preferences web page: http://info.evidon.com/pub_info/573?v=1nt=1nw=false

We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your Children has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

Cookies Policy

Last updated: (Aug. 9, 2017)

AAM uses cookies on www.aam.com. By using the site, you consent to the use of cookies.

Our Cookies Policy explains what cookies are, how we use cookies, how third­parties we may partner with may use cookies on the site, your choices regarding cookies and further information about cookies.

What are cookies

Cookies are small pieces of text sent by your web browser by a website you visit. A cookie file is stored in your web browser and allows the site or a third­party to recognize you and make your next visit easier and the site more useful to you.

Cookies can be persistent or session cookies.

How AAM uses cookies

When you use and access the site, we may place a number of cookies files in your web browser.

We use cookies for the following purposes: to enable certain functions of the site, to provide analytics, to store your preferences, to enable advertisements delivery, including behavioral advertising.

We use both session and persistent cookies on the site and we use different types of cookies to run the site:

Essential cookies. We may use essential cookies to authenticate users and prevent fraudulent use of user accounts.

Third­party cookies

In addition to our own cookies, we may also use various third­parties cookies to report usage statistics of the site, deliver advertisements on and through the site, and so on.

What are your choices regarding cookies

If you'd like to delete cookies or instruct your web browser to delete or refuse cookies, please visit the help pages of your web browser.

Please note, however, that if you delete cookies or refuse to accept them, you might not be able to use all of the features we offer, you may not be able to store your preferences, and some of our pages might not display properly.

Where can you find more information about cookies

You can learn more about cookies and the following third­party websites: